GPO 706 Stiff Dial

[Land Rover Fan]

Hello all,

I have a GPO 706 with a problem. The dial is stiff to turn, although the return speed is fine. I’ve had the dial mechanism apart and carefully oiled it, which made it a bit better but still not good.

Any help much appreciated.

[Nickthedentist]

That sounds like the one-way clutch is stiff.

Remove it, scrub it all over with a fibreglass pencil if you have one, then soak it in light oil for a while, then blot off all the excess before reinstalling, with the tiniest drop of light oil on the pivots at either end.

Good clock repair practice is best for dials, in other words, a complete stripdown, thorough clean (IPA, toothbrush, cocktail sticks, rag), then reassembly with the tiniest amount of oil in the right places, and none in the places that shouldn't have any. It looks daunting, but once you've done a few, you will be able to do it in your sleep! Sorry about the blurry pic, not sure what my phone did there.

N.

[Land Rover Fan]

Originally Posted by Nickthedentist

That sounds like the one-way clutch is stiff.

Remove it, scrub it all over with a fibreglass pencil if you have one, then soak it in light oil for a while, then blot off all the excess before reinstalling, with the tiniest drop of light oil on the pivots at either end.

Good clock repair practice is best for dials, in other words, a complete stripdown, thorough clean (IPA, toothbrush, cocktail sticks, rag), then reassembly with the tiniest amount of oil in the right places, and none in the places that shouldn't have any. It looks daunting, but once you've done a few, you will be able to do it in your sleep! Sorry about the blurry pic, not sure what my phone did there.

N.

I have carefully disassembled the dial mechanism again, and indeed the clutch you mentioned is stuck. I don’t have any light oil to hand, so put it in a pot of WD40, I hope that’s all right!

I will go though and carefully clean and oil the rest of the assembly.

[Nickthedentist]

WD40 won't harm at all here.

If it doensn't free up, you can fit one scavenged from almost ANY GPO/BT dial, even the 1980s plasticy ones.

[Land Rover Fan]

I still am having trouble with the original one way clutch, so have “borrowed” one of another dial. The phone now works perfectly. Thank you very much

[Nickthedentist]

Glad it worked.

Well worth grabbing any nasty plastic dials you see on scrap phones, if only for the aforementioned clutch and the mainspring.

I bought a handful at RWB not long ago for almost nothing. When I got them home, I realised a certain plastic bit had cracked and fallen off all but one of them, meaning they'd never work. But they've all proved useful as spring and clutch donors.